Look out, the WWBH's about!

Hi folks!

It's that time again, and I'm just squeezing in this post before heading out for a day of work. Working one day a week at the moment, it's tough I tell you!

Today Leanne has the prompts to delight those writing taste buds ...

 

Hello, friends!

Three weeks down, one to go! Can you believe we're rounding out January already? How are those New Year resolutions coming along?

Well, if you resolved to write more or to explore your creative side, you're invited to participate in our weekly Writer Wednesday Blog Hop. Check it out!

Here are the awesome story entries from last week's prompt:

Tea and Other Things by Veronica Fitzhugh 

(Welcome to the blog hop Veronica!) 

Back Home by Debb Stanton 

The Airplane Ride by Scott Taylor 

New Plan by Leanne Sype  

Changes by Sally Stackhouse 

They're Coming by HJ Musk 

Here is the short version of the how the blog hop works. For the complete instructions click here:

• We ask that you try to keep your story to approximately 500 words, give or take.

• Please remember that the photos used are the property of the hostess for that week (unless otherwise stated). Please do not share these photos as your own (ie: give proper credit when using as a part of your hop and please do not use anywhere else on your blog). And please refrain from adding other photos to your blog story.

• While not strictly mandatory, we do ask that you reference the blog hop (a link back to here or to the WWBH page for 2015 –http://tainiwrites.wordpress.com/writer-wednesday-blog-hop-2/2015-writer-wednesday-blog-hop/ – would be nice) so that others might join in.

• Link your story through the blue frog at bottom of the prompt by the following Tuesday (direct link to story, not your whole blog, please). If you are unable or need help, contact your hop hostess via the comments:Leanne, Heather, or Tena

• Most important of all – Have Fun! Take your writing seriously, but let those creative juices flow! Don’t fret/panic/pass out/hyperventilate/lose sleep/run in fear over the blog hop, instead let this be an exercise in letting the imagination run wild while staying within the discipline of flash-fiction—short and compelling!

Last but not least, here are your prompt photos for this week.

Remember to work both photos into your story:

 

   

 

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Nope, it's the WWBH swooping in again!

Hi folks! 

How is your week going so far? Mine has been a bit up and down. We've had a lot of bugs in the house over the weekend, so I feel like I've been thrown off with my daily to-do lists. I've spent the last couple of days playing catchup, but I think I'm getting there. I haven't missed a deadline just yet.

“I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.”
― Douglas Adams, The Salmon of Doubt

Unlike Mr Adams, I'd prefer not to let the deadlines whoosh by me, I've spent far too much time letting that happen already. I want to be making progress at last!

Speaking of deadlines, we have a nice selection of stories from last weeks writing prompt, so get your flash fiction fill with these offerings:

So Thirsty  by Leanne Sype

The Old Salt Mine by Scott Taylor

Salt Lessons by Debb Stanton

The Decision by Sally 

Determined to Finish  by Tena Carr

Unwelcome Guest by Heather Musk

If these tales have whetted your appetite and enticed you to write your own story, then we'd love to read it and share it with everyone. We only have a few guidelines in place to keep it fair for everyone, which you can read in full here.

All you need to do is write a ~500 word piece of flash fiction based on the picture prompt and five random words that I'll reveal in a moment.

Link up by next Tuesday to the froggy at the bottom, and then wait until Wednesday to read what everyone else came up with and to see what new prompts are in store.

If you are new to the WWBH, please do check out the full rules and guidelines first, we'd hate to have to omit a story for something minor. 


OK, so now to the fun part, the new prompts for next week. Are you ready?

novel, socks, morals, spar, stool

 

Falling behind, always behind ...

  

Hi folks! I hope you're all enjoying your January so far.

I'm just dropping in with a little update on how my Open University studies are going.

I'm just over half way through an English Literature degree with some Creative Writing components. I'm in my fourth year out of six, studying a level 3 advanced creative writing course. 

It's been a bit of a rush the last couple of months, and I've been doing the bare minimum to get through my assignments. This is far from ideal I know, but with so many things getting in the way I just seem to fall further and further behind. The last time I checked (and I try not to because it frightens me) I was six weeks behind with my course reading. 

I have managed to get my first two assignments in on time, and I've been amazed at the scores, both only a few marks short of a distinction. I did them both at the very last minute, too, writing right up until the last few hours of deadline day. It does make me wonder just what I could achieve if I actually did the reading properly and gave myself plenty of time for the assignments!

Assignment 3 is due in next Monday and I've made a tentative start. We are critiquing each others work and commenting on the discussions involved. It seems fairly straightforward, so hopefully if I devote this week to it I should come in with another good mark. It's a bit scary critiquing other people's work though, particularly as I will be seeing them next weekend at a tutorial!

My aim over the next couple of weeks is to get caught up properly on the reading and get back on track, rather than continually playing catchup. Oh, and scheduling in proper time for the assignments.

Wish me luck!

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New prompts for a new week, it's WWBH time!

Hello to all! How are we doing? Settling in to 2015 yet, or still getting over the holiday blues? I can't decide which I'm doing but hopefully I'll readjust soon.

I did manage to submit a story to last weeks WWBH though, so I'm making some progress. Tena has the details of the hop this week, and you can find the link to my story as well as the new prompts to get your mind whirring. 

So, what are you waiting for ...

Welcome everyone to another week of WWBH. 

Here are the lovely entries from last week:  

Jeremy's Imagination by Debb Stanton  

Father and Son on a Walk by Scott Taylor 

Peggy Piper's Lucky Day by Leanne Sype

A Case of Bad Luck by Tena Carr

 Find a penny, pick me up by Heather Musk

So, on to this week. First a quick review of the rules (for a more detailed look please visit the main WWBH page) 

This week I will be doing the "2 Picture" style prompt. Your story must include and, somehow, tie together the 2 photos (which I will give you below).

• We ask that you try to keep your story to approximately 500 words, give or take.
• Please remember that the photos used are the property of the hostess for that week (unless otherwise stated). Please do not share these photos as your own (ie: Give Proper Credit when using as a part of your hop and please do not use anywhere else on your blog). And please refrain from adding other photos to your blog story.
• While not strictly mandatory, we do ask that you reference the blog hop (a link back to here or to the WWBH page for 2015 - http://tainiwrites.wordpress.com/writer-wednesday-blog-hop-2/2015-writer-wednesday-blog-hop/ - would be nice) so that others might join in.
• Link your story through the blue frog at bottom of the prompt by the following Tuesday (direct link to story, not your whole blog, please). If you are unable or need help, contact your hop hostess via the comments: Leanne, Heather, or Tena
• Most important of all - Have Fun! Take your writing seriously, but let those creative juices flow! Don’t fret/panic/pass out/hyperventilate/lose sleep/run in fear over the blog hop, instead let this be an exercise in letting the imagination run wild while staying within the discipline of flash-fiction—short and compelling!

So here are your 2 photos for this week:

   

 

Have fun with this. We can't wait to see what you come up with.

Make this your first prompt of the year - a WWBH post

Hello to all on this chilly Wednesday afternoon! At least, it's chilly where I am.

So, how are you doing with your New Years Resolutions? I've established a couple of goals for myself this year, check out my first IWSG post for 2015 to fine out what I'm up to.

Are you planning on writing more this year? Need some inspiration or, dare I say it, prompting? Well you've come to the 'write' place. Today we are kicking off our first Writer Wednesday blog hop for 2015, and if you carry on reading Leanne has all the details ...

Welcome to the Writer Wednesday Blog Hop 2015! 

We've spent the last few weeks celebrating the creative authors and stories that came through last year's prompts, and we're inviting you to join us again or for the first time to a fresh new year of prompts and stories. 

Writer Wednesday Blog Hop (WWBH) is a weekly writing prompt created to inspire you to: 

  ~ flex your creative muscles. 
  ~ practice the discipline of writing compelling material within specific perimeters. 
  ~ join a community of writers for the sake of encouragement, support, and audience growth.  

"Imperfections are not inadequacies; they are reminders that we're all in this together." 

~Brene Brown 

Your blog hop hostesses (a.k.a. the people bringing you the prompts each week) are: Tena Carr, Heather Musk, and Leanne Sype. We have a lot of fun getting to know each other and new authors as they drop in through out the year! 

You don't have to qualify to join our community or even wait until a certain time. Simply check here every Wednesday for the new prompt and if your muse gets excited, channel that energy into creating a story and submit it. You're always invited! And bring a friend! 

We post all the entries (as per the instructions below) for each prompt every Wednesday with the link to your blog so readers can easily hop on over to get to know you, your work, and your audience. Before we get to our first prompt of the year, how does one "do" the blog hop? (Bear with us as we post the long version):
 

1) You will see one of two prompts each week--either one photo with five mandatory words OR two photos to be incorporated together. Use the photo(s) and prompt to write a 500-word story; all elements of the prompt must be a feature in the brief story you create.

2) When 1 photo/5 words is the theme, the 5 words MUST be clearly referenced in your story. Variations on a word are allowed within reason (for example: adding s, ed, ing to the word to be grammatically correct); however, creating a new, unrelated, word is not okay... because it simply isn't part of the prompt.

3) We ask that you keep your story to approximately 500 words (give or take). We aren't counting but, please, no 1000-word entries.

4) PHOTOS: Photos are the property of the hostess for the week, unless otherwise mentioned. In order to honor the community-purpose of the blog hop and to avoid confusion:

~ Please Do Not share photos and/or prompt words as your own.

~ Please include the photo(s) and reference the blog hop in your post so your blog audience and the blog hop community may all be connected.

~ Please do not include extra photos into your story... Thank you so much for understanding! Let us know if you have questions on this. :)

5) Link your story through the blue frog at the bottom of the prompt by the following Tuesday (direct link to story, not your whole blog, please). If you are unable or need help, contact your hop hostess via the comments: Leanne, Heather, or Tena.  

We do reserve the right to not publish your entry if your submission does not adhere to these instructions... not because we are mean, but because we want to keep this prompt fair for all participants. :)

6) Have Fun! Take your writing seriously, but let those creative juices flow! Don’t fret/panic/pass out/hyperventilate/lose sleep/run in fear over the blog hop, instead let this be an exercise in letting the imagination run wild while staying within the discipline of flash-fiction—short and compelling!

Here is your first prompt for 2015:

Mandatory (and randomly generated) words to include in your story: 

bottle

ostrich

schedule

binder

spoon

 

Happy New Year! A new year and a new start - An IWSG post

Happy New Year to all, and welcome to the first IWSG of 2015!

borrowed from http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/

I don't know about you guys, but I've certainly been looking forward to this brand new year. The last six months were very up and down, and writing stuff was put on the back-burner for way too long. It's been an effort to drum up the enthusiasm to get back into it if I'm honest.

There's something about the beginning of a new year though, a chance to make a new start, feeling fresh and invigorated, that gives me the motivation that usually disappears in the waning months of the year just gone.

So, in the spirit of fresh new starts, I've laid down a few goals for myself to aim for in 2015. They aren't extravagant, but will help me on my way to achieving my longer term aims.

I think one reason my writing hasn't taken off in the past is because I haven't been taking it, or myself, seriously enough. I don't mean super-serious like 'this is all that matters and I can't spare any thought for anything or anyone else ever', but I've spent too much time nursing my self-doubt and just faffing basically from one unfinished project to the next.

After being inspired by an article in the January issue of Writers Magazine I'm changing my perspective and will be looking at my writing as a business rather than a hobby. I've made the time to sit down and really outline what it is I want to achieve and have established a workable plan to tick off everything on my list.

To this end, for 2015 I have three main goals to focus on:

1. Write something every day.
2. Submit to one competition each month.
3. Sell at least one piece for publication.

Now, I think these goals are fairly straightforward, and there's no real reason why I shouldn't be able to achieve each and every one. I think the third one is probably the most difficult, but if I get writing and send my work off to as many places as I can, it'll only increase my chances. You don't know until you try, right?

If you are looking forward to a productive and fulfilling 2015, then I wish you all the best on your journey. I hope to see you around the blogosphere celebrating all your achievements.

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For more information on the amazing entity that is the Insecure Writers Support Group, click on the link and head over. Here you will find the list of who's participating and it's well worth a browse to see what everyone's insecurities are. Trust me, you're not alone, there are plenty of us on the same wavelength.

 Happy IWSG Day!

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